Chase Investment Counsel Corp Raises Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Chase Investment Counsel Corp lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 18,662 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,435 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises 3.6% of Chase Investment Counsel Corp’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Chase Investment Counsel Corp’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $10,682,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of META. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 57,001.5% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 9,517,111 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,447,975,000 after buying an additional 9,500,444 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 14.5% in the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 34,597,001 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $16,799,612,000 after purchasing an additional 4,379,826 shares during the last quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth $595,152,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 187,180,393 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $90,891,055,000 after purchasing an additional 831,047 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 30.0% during the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 3,411,009 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,656,318,000 after buying an additional 788,131 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $526.94, for a total transaction of $8,800,951.88. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 46,292 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,393,106.48. The trade was a 26.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $589.97, for a total transaction of $533,922.85. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 33,292 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,641,281.24. This trade represents a 2.65 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 158,200 shares of company stock worth $84,533,106. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on META shares. Mizuho raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Loop Capital boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Guggenheim upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $665.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $634.10.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 4.0 %

Shares of META stock opened at $554.08 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $313.66 and a fifty-two week high of $602.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.40 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.10, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.22. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $568.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $520.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a current ratio of 2.73.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. The firm had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.21 billion. Research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.36%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.42%.

Meta Platforms Company Profile

Meta Platforms, Inc engages in the development of products that enable people to connect and share with friends and family through mobile devices, personal computers, virtual reality headsets, and wearables worldwide. It operates in two segments, Family of Apps and Reality Labs. The Family of Apps segment offers Facebook, which enables people to share, discuss, discover, and connect with interests; Instagram, a community for sharing photos, videos, and private messages, as well as feed, stories, reels, video, live, and shops; Messenger, a messaging application for people to connect with friends, family, communities, and businesses across platforms and devices through text, audio, and video calls; and WhatsApp, a messaging application that is used by people and businesses to communicate and transact privately.